A character animation authoring tool, which is one type of animation creating programs, adopts a method in which an animation is created by joining together animation parts that are created by dividing a meaningful series of motions or expressions into individual parts.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 99757/2000 (Tokukai 2000-99757, published on Apr. 7, 2000) discloses an animation creating method and an animation creating device, in which animation parts of a character are used to allow easy editing of an animation that contains images of smoothly changing character expressions and motions.
More specifically, the animation creating device of the foregoing example has a memory that stores animation parts, which are created by dividing a series of character motions and expressions into a plurality of frames, and attribute values of these animation parts. In addition, the foregoing animation creating device has an input section, where animation is created according to the story, by joining together animation parts that are selected according to each step of the story sequence.
Further, in the animation creating method of this animation creating device, the divided character animation parts, as well as the attribute values indicative of features of motions or expressions of each animation part, are stored in a database (“DB” hereinafter), wherein required attribute values are entered in each step of the story sequence, so as to select and join animation parts.
This enables the character to move smoothly according to the entered attribute values in conformity with the story, thereby easily editing a high quality animation using animation parts.
Thus, there has been a conventional method in which attribute values of animation character parts are entered according to the development of the story with respect to an animation character that has been described by a predetermined method. Specifically, the method enters changes in shape or motion of individual animation parts that make up the described animation, so as to display the output.
However, the conventional animation creating method does not allow a part or an object for making additional animation to be inserted by simple operations with respect to the described animation. Adding or inserting an additional object by a user is enabled only by newly creating an object using an animation editing system.
Further, the conventional animation creating method requires that the database be reconstructed to describe the relation between the inserted part or object and the pre-described animation. It is therefore impossible to change the pre-described animation according to the inserted part or object. Consequently, when shapes or motions of the described animation are to be changed accordingly to the additional object, the pre-described animation itself needs to be re-edited.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animation creating methods and animation creating devices, and animation creating programs and computer-readable recording media recording same, which require simple operations and a short time to create composite animation, i.e., a pre-described animation image with an additional object.